(Topic ID: 230776)

Young people and pinball

By Davidus56

5 years ago


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    There are 180 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 4.
    #51 5 years ago

    Many of us will get sliced up when the knife starts falling only to increase the velocity of said knife...

    #52 5 years ago

    wait WTF did you read this before posting it?
    "support radical femenism and multiculturalism to the point where your sons will be unable to find wives and keep families, and your entire race may be in danger of extinction"

    #53 5 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    Nope, pinball will peak, then decline as pinheads move to senior condos and die.
    Sure there is a kid here or there that plays pinball, but not enough to sustain today's enthusiasm.
    Look in any arcade. 10 kids playing DDR, 0 kids on the pins.

    This is correct. Most of us played pinball in arcades, pizza places and sandwich shops years ago.

    20-30 years later we can afford to own a piece of our youth, so we buy one...and so the story goes. Then we buy another and another...Damn, how the hell did I get so many machines? It started with only one 10 years ago.

    Yes, the hobby has grown recently, but it only had one way to go which was up. It was at a point of extinction only a few years ago.

    Do you know when my daughter and her friends play pinball? When I say "why don't you guys go play some pinball", then 15 minutes later they're back in the house and on their phones.

    Unless the pinball manufacturers come out with some mind blowing features to the pinball machine, it will die a slow death. Let's face it, everyone is still buying pinball machines from 20-25 years ago, because there's been very little true innovation!

    "Sad but true"

    #54 5 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    Nope, pinball will peak, then decline as pinheads move to senior condos and die.
    Sure there is a kid here or there that plays pinball, but not enough to sustain today's enthusiasm.
    Look in any arcade. 10 kids playing DDR, 0 kids on the pins.

    Not sure I agree with that. My daughter had a birthday party at an arcade a couple of weeks ago -- none of her friends were at the pins, but when I was there playing, there were usually a few kids (13 or under) playing right along side me all afternoon. This was at the Mall of America, where there's 8 pins and a TON of videogames (including DDR).

    #55 5 years ago

    jersey jack, hope you’re reading this! Get Lawlor to remake no good gofers but call it “Get Off My Lawn.”

    #56 5 years ago
    Quoted from ThePinballCo-op:

    I love pinball now, but I HATED it as a kid and teenager. I'd often frequent my local bowling alley, which had an arcade of maybe 20 machines. Most were video games, about 4 were pinball machines. I'd put a few quarters in a pin (High Speed) and drain almost immediately. I didn't know how to play, didn't know where the points were, and only wanted to hit stuff to see the lights and sounds. I couldn't keep the ball alive long enough to even do that. Maybe I wasn't coordinated enough as a kid? I hated it. I stuck to the video games. They were constant action and I didn't need to think, I just needed to react. No learning required.
    Fast forward 15 years: I find myself in front of another pinball machine (Ripley's Believe It Or Not). I was able to keep the ball alive and hit stuff. I was required to think and analyze, and use my coordination to hit the intended shots. I had a specific plan in place and executed it to the best of my ability. I learned bumping and nudging over time, and all the other nuances and tricks that come along with pinball, and I'm still learning them to this day. It's a constant learning experience and I enjoy it greatly.
    Point is, I think kids aren't interested in pinball because being good requires a thought process, knowledge, and skill. All of this requires time and effort. Kids' brains haven't developed their frontal lobes enough to be interested in things that require such things (the majority of kids, anyway). Some do, most don't. We've all been this way. How many of us had a love of learning as a kid? How many of us have a love of learning today? I'll bet it's close to the same for all of us. As we've grown older, we've taking a liking to the challenging things in life, the ones that require time, effort, skill, thought, etc.
    Pinball won't die. In fact, with the increase in video games such as zen pinball and pinball arcade, the younger generation will be more inclined to join the hobby as an adult. They will be more familiar with it, and therefore won't be afraid to attempt it when the moment arises.
    My 2 cents.

    Same here. I didn't become genuinely interested in pinball until I was about 30. Kids like what's new, popular, and what their friends are into and talking about - which is unlikely to be pinball unless they happen to have some in the family or a parent/family member into it. I've been exposing our two year old to it, but I don't ever plan on forcing it. I loved videogames as a kid (and still do now, albeit with much less free time to play), but tastes and interests change with age and you will always find new stuff and continue to expand. I didn't like to watch documentaries and eat at any restaurant that took more than 5 minutes to bring out food as a kid either. Will pinball ever capture the hearts of America's youth? Unlikely, but I can't see why it would ever die off either.

    #57 5 years ago

    Like others said, plenty of us were not into pins at a younger age. Even back in the late 80's and early 90's, I don't remember seeing that many pins or any pin being that popular. Video games were far more popular and dominated arcades. There were just more interesting at the time. Past the mid 90's, I pretty much thought pins no longer existed since you rarely saw one. Still, I caught the bug, got into the hobby, and sought out games. I don't think I could of got into the hobby at a younger age with young kids and little disposable income. I'm sure plenty of people will grow out of video games and look for something less digital to plug into. Biggest problem I see is costs. Old games are getting expensive and new games are getting crazy expensive.

    11
    #58 5 years ago

    These type of things swing back and forth. A few years back people were giving me boxes of vinyl records, now everyone wants 10$ a pop for streisand discs and they sell turntables at barns and nobles.

    I’m sure pinball will have more ups and downs but it will continue for some time. Kids are getting into it, and adults. Everyone that comes over enjoys mine, neices, nephews, adults. My kid really enjoys it as well

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    #59 5 years ago

    You think the gang over at play Mechanix sits around asking each other "How do we get young people into Big Buck Hunter?"

    I doubt it. Cause people get old enough to drink, go to bars, find Big Buck Hunters, and realize it's fun to drunkenly shoot at video deer.

    Pinball just needs to be the same way. Keep the games good, and the doors open, and people will discover it when they get older. This is how it's been working for a long time now.

    Young people are idiots! Don't take my word for it, ask any old people and they'll agree. Trying to cater to them works for pop music and bad movies. It's never going to work again in pinball, ever.

    #60 5 years ago

    I've found it's not a good discussion until snowflake and soyboy get used...

    That said, virtual pinball can really help the cause here. Stern is marketing that way too. You can get your pinball machine playing app on your tablet for super cheap compared to an actual game. There, one can learn the basic rules of different pins and if someone is interested enough from the app, they will seek out the ACTUAL pin.

    Over on r/pinball, you see a bunch of people go from virtual to real pinball.

    #61 5 years ago

    Pinball is and will be a history lesson for younger people now and in the years to come. When they no longer read books, they will still be able to see what popular culture was when their grandparents were alive.

    #62 5 years ago

    My kids enjoy playing. They aren’t into it as much as I am. They will almost never play them alone. But everytime they have friends over, they always hang out in the pinball room and have a good time.
    Who knows if they’ll like them when I’m dead and gone. It doesn’t really matter to me. If they all get sold to fund other interests, who cares?
    No one can predict what kids will be into in 20 or 30 years or even what eras of games will be popular if Pinball stays relevant. Right now my sons favorite games are The Walking Dead and Jet Spin, a 4 year old DMD and a 40 year old EM.

    #63 5 years ago

    I think a lot comes down to priorities in affordability as well, video games are cheap at $60 I myself at 23 would love to spend money on a pinball machine but at this point in my life it would be hard with barely scraping by when it comes to bills and trying to afford just living

    #64 5 years ago
    Quoted from dondon4720:

    I think a lot comes down to priorities in affordability as well, video games are cheap at $60 I myself at 23 would love to spend money on a pinball machine but at this point in my life it would be hard with barely scraping by when it comes to bills and trying to afford just living

    Yep.

    I'm 33 and my girlfriend is 25 (she liked pinball before I met her). Our friends are ~20-38 years old and several have said that the first thing they'd buy if they could afford it would be a pinball machine (not necessarily advised, but said nonetheless). The interest is there, but I'm not sure I have any close friends that could afford even a $2k range game (I can however foresee multiple being able to afford machines in the next few years as they enter their mid 30s [with their current jobs]). The last girl I was with was working at a Law Office in Orlando before we moved to Gainesville. It took her about 20 interviews over 6+ months to finally get a job that would pay her just $15/hr at 32 years old (less than the Orlando job of course). I have a friend here in his 30s that was excited to get a dirty job that paid $11/hr (after a couple years of school to get certified). I have no idea how someone can even survive off that, but it's the reality for many in my age group.

    I used to collect MtG cards (since '95) and travel for tournaments. Selling two decades worth of collecting funded much of my pinball collection (hard to realize how much is accumulated over that time when crammed into binders and boxes). Now I travel to pinball events

    #65 5 years ago

    There is a bubble in general, but I don't think it will be utterly devastating when it inevitably pops. If anything we need the bubble to pop to drive prices back down. (Start dying off you hoarders ) It's an expensive hobby in general, and most newcomers get scared off by the sticker shock when they search "pinball machine for sale."

    The people who are most into the hobby right now are the people who benefited most when it wasn't hard to get a great game for under $500 and most A-tier games prices were topping out at $3,000. Younger generations carry a lot more debt than previous generations (student loans and such), so I'm curious what expendable income for millenials will look like in the future.

    The number of young players now will have drastic ramifications in the future when there is an inevitable glut well-maintained machines. Pinball games used to be tossed out all the time; now they're taken care of like defenseless babies.

    I think the number of profitable and viable locations for operating machines is dwindling and younger generations are anemic to carrying around change. It's not a competition for people's money; it's a competition for people's attention. Getting games in front of people is more difficult than ever before, and there is a fine balancing act of making games appeal to all skill levels.

    #66 5 years ago
    Quoted from TreyBo69:

    There is a bubble in general, but I don't think it will be utterly devastating when it inevitably pops. If anything we need the bubble to pop to drive prices back down. (Start dying off you hoarders ) It's an expensive hobby in general, and most newcomers get scared off by the sticker shock when they search "pinball machine for sale."
    The people who are most into the hobby right now are the people who benefited most when it wasn't hard to get a great game for under $500 and most A-tier games prices were topping out at $3,000. Younger generations carry a lot more debt than previous generations (student loans and such), so I'm curious what expendable income for millenials will look like in the future.
    The number of young players now will have drastic ramifications in the future when there is an inevitable glut well-maintained machines. Pinball games used to be tossed out all the time; now they're taken care of like defenseless babies.
    I think the number of profitable and viable locations for operating machines is dwindling and younger generations are anemic to carrying around change. It's not a competition for people's money; it's a competition for people's attention. Getting games in front of people is more difficult than ever before, and there is a fine balancing act of making games appeal to all skill levels.

    Pinball Arcade is what ultimately dragged me into the physical side of the hobby, almost immediately getting TPF tickets after discovering it (so not too hard to spark interest without a physical machine), and yes, I thought prices were crazy and that I'd NEVER spend over $3k on a pinball machine. Boy was I wrong, haha.

    #67 5 years ago
    Quoted from TreyBo69:

    There is a bubble in general, but I don't think it will be utterly devastating when it inevitably pops. If anything we need the bubble to pop to drive prices back down. (Start dying off you hoarders ) It's an expensive hobby in general, and most newcomers get scared off by the sticker shock when they search "pinball machine for sale."
    The people who are most into the hobby right now are the people who benefited most when it wasn't hard to get a great game for under $500 and most A-tier games prices were topping out at $3,000. Younger generations carry a lot more debt than previous generations (student loans and such), so I'm curious what expendable income for millenials will look like in the future.
    The number of young players now will have drastic ramifications in the future when there is an inevitable glut well-maintained machines. Pinball games used to be tossed out all the time; now they're taken care of like defenseless babies.
    I think the number of profitable and viable locations for operating machines is dwindling and younger generations are anemic to carrying around change. It's not a competition for people's money; it's a competition for people's attention. Getting games in front of people is more difficult than ever before, and there is a fine balancing act of making games appeal to all skill levels.

    On days like today... when the DOW is down 800 points all the sudden... I could see people selling off their collections all at once to raise funds and crashing the market.

    #68 5 years ago
    Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:

    On days like today... when the DOW is down 800 points all the sudden... I could see people selling off their collections all at once to raise funds and crashing the market.

    Or they're like my father-in-law who is trying to cash out as much stock as possible because the growth seems unsustainable and he rather buy real-estate while interest rates are still low. There are plenty of dummies around here that still view pinball machines as investments despite the overwhelming evidence that there is a bubble.

    #69 5 years ago

    Just did a service call on a getaway pinball and the kid maybe 11 years old is curious what software revision the game has. You know that pinball is having a resurgence when kids are asking about th at stuff.

    #70 5 years ago

    I still think there's a lot of (relatively) younger folks getting into the hobby. I'm 54, and in our Space City Pinball league I'm probably one of the oldest guys there. Most are in their 30's and 40's with a few 20 somethings and yes, even a couple teenagers.

    #71 5 years ago

    When spending all day in the arcade and working there for the first half of the 90s I can tell you one thing; Pinball WASN'T that popular then!

    #72 5 years ago
    Quoted from Fezmid:

    I was there playing, there were usually a few kids (13 or under) playing right along side me all afternoon.

    Amazing that kids under 13 were playing pinball, and more amazing that kids so young could even understand enough about the game to play all afternoon.

    When I service games at an arcade and have credits left, I'll sometimes wave a kid over to use them up, and they just stare as the ball drains "This is dumb".

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    #73 5 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    I'll sometimes wave a kid over to use them up, and they just stare as the ball drains "This is dumb"

    Riiight. It's probably not you at all Vid.

    #74 5 years ago
    Quoted from wayout440:

    Wrong. Since my kids are not interested in my pins, I gave my wife instructions on how to sell them fairly. Then she quoted me some outlandish prices.

    Sell the kids or the pins?

    #75 5 years ago

    Young son loves pinball. Been to a pinball show and ate it all up. I am doing my part for continuing pinball in the future.

    #76 5 years ago

    Do you guys think these kids are playing "Goonies, the video game" ?

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    #77 5 years ago

    I’ve got one pin on location. When I stopped by to check on it the other day, a girl about 10 was asking me what it was. I told about it and she asks, “well what do I win?” I told her you just have fun playing. She said “why would I play without winning something” and walked away. I hope having this pin on location will at least let some of the younger kids experience what pinball is.

    #78 5 years ago
    Quoted from TheLaw:

    Riiight. It's probably not you at all Vid.

    I always wonder if it's just the tools my job requires?

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    #79 5 years ago

    I have very limited experience with vintage pins on location at restaurants and, based on that, children between the ages of four to ten are my best customers. I found out from a mother why that might be. 25¢ and 50¢ games of pinball are cheaper than a babysitter on 'date nights.' The parents will stand behind the little ones and help them play. I couldn't be happier than seeing a kid smiling when playing pinball.

    My vintage games are also simple, but fun. This might be another reason why the youngun's like them.

    Anecdotal evidence:

    There was a meeting for a group of one of our largest employers in Tucson at Hotrods on Friday evening. Not a single person put a quarter into a pinball machine. Must not have been the engineers!

    Whenever I walked into Spotted Bull, it was kids who were playing, even though the games were in the bar/restaurant area.

    I gave a young man two quarters to play Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man, with the approval of the parents, of course. He told me he loved the game and came running and skipping back to mom and dad for more quarters. Anyone that happy deserved another free game, so I gave him two more quarters. It was his first time playing pinball! Like I said, couldn't be happier!

    #80 5 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    I always wonder if it's just the tools my job requires?[quoted image]

    Dang, Vid, finally figured out who you really are!

    drill (resized).pngdrill (resized).png

    (Obscure movie reference even more obscure than Vid's avatar)

    #81 5 years ago
    Quoted from xsvtoys:

    Dang, Vid, finally figured out who you really are!

    DaPalma's best movie by far.

    #82 5 years ago
    Quoted from xsvtoys:

    Dang, Vid, finally figured out who you really are!
    [quoted image]
    (Obscure movie reference even more obscure than Vid's avatar)

    Body double! Great movie! Kind of like rear window with Jimmy Stewart but r rated. Nice twist on the ending also.

    #83 5 years ago
    Quoted from CrazyLevi:

    You think the gang over at play Mechanix sits around asking each other "How do we get young people into Big Buck Hunter?"
    I doubt it. Cause people get old enough to drink, go to bars, find Big Buck Hunters, and realize it's fun to drunkenly shoot at video deer.
    Pinball just needs to be the same way. Keep the games good, and the doors open, and people will discover it when they get older. This is how it's been working for a long time now.
    Young people are idiots! Don't take my word for it, ask any old people and they'll agree. Trying to cater to them works for pop music and bad movies. It's never going to work again in pinball, ever.

    Pinball is in places where i drink. Not only have i never seen 1 person play them, I've never played them and i surely haven't seen 1 single college age person play them. Games like tspp. The old ass owner wants them there. College town mind you.

    #84 5 years ago

    I laugh at 30 somethings that think they're the youth of tomorrow.

    #85 5 years ago

    Monopoly has a new version. It's millennials monopoly. That's their answer to the lack of interest in games, star wars figures etc.

    Watch "MONOPOLY FOR MILLENNIALS! Hasbro ROASTS Millennials With New Game!" on YouTube

    #86 5 years ago

    How many young people can afford a $8500 toy? With less location pinball, that's the sticking point.

    #87 5 years ago
    Quoted from Coz:

    I’ve got one pin on location. When I stopped by to check on it the other day, a girl about 10 was asking me what it was. I told about it and she asks, “well what do I win?” I told her you just have fun playing. She said “why would I play without winning something” and walked away. I hope having this pin on location will at least let some of the younger kids experience what pinball is.

    Doesn't Jersey Jack have the redemption ticket patent on a pinball machine?

    #88 5 years ago
    Quoted from KozMckPinball:

    Doesn't Jersey Jack have the redemption ticket patent on a pinball machine?

    He may have "a" patent, but there have been tons of pins that spill out tickets that are not jjp.
    Stern_PinRedemption (resized).jpgStern_PinRedemption (resized).jpg

    #89 5 years ago
    Quoted from leonml:

    I laugh at 30 somethings that think they're the youth of tomorrow.

    You do know these millennials you keep dumping on are the thirty somethings right?

    #90 5 years ago
    Quoted from thirdedition:

    You do know these millennials you keep dumping on are the thirty somethings right?

    I’ll be buying his pins at an estate sale when he dies too. CHEAP. Then I’m going to put tons of colored LEDs in them and mod them to death. Lol

    -1
    #91 5 years ago

    I'd be a grump too if I lived in a stinky one-horse town like Nekoosa.

    #92 5 years ago
    Quoted from o-din:

    Do you guys think these kids are playing "Goonies, the video game" ?

    the kid on the far right looks like noone i know.

    -5
    #93 5 years ago
    Quoted from thirdedition:

    You do know these millennials you keep dumping on are the thirty somethings right?

    Just the oldest of the group. Every year after got progressively worse. The meth and heroin generation.

    #94 5 years ago

    I was able to get my girlfriends son into pinball ever since I have my machine, he turned 16 and still plays with me but stops if I destroy him in score and plays by himself or when we go to arcade with pins we play for awhile.

    #95 5 years ago
    Quoted from soapblox:

    I've found it's not a good discussion until snowflake and soyboy get used...
    That said, virtual pinball can really help the cause here. Stern is marketing that way too. You can get your pinball machine playing app on your tablet for super cheap compared to an actual game. There, one can learn the basic rules of different pins and if someone is interested enough from the app, they will seek out the ACTUAL pin.
    Over on r/pinball, you see a bunch of people go from virtual to real pinball.

    Virtual pin? Please!! The kids chew up and spit out far more involved interactive online games in months before they're already chomping at the bit for the"new" sequel. If no sequel, on to the next. Then the new game system comes out and their 2 or 3 year old one is just crap. They want instant gratification. They see the rare cool kids doing skateboard, or bmx or snowboard trucks, and then beg mommy and daddy to buy them several of each cause the kids want, but the kids barely use the crap and give up because they don't want to learn, practice, or fall. Video systems are unlimited lives forever and cheat codes and somewhat nonsense. It's all they do. It's also damaging to them.

    #96 5 years ago
    Quoted from thirdedition:

    You do know these millennials you keep dumping on are the thirty somethings right?

    Truth isn't dumping. There's always exceptions to the rule.

    -12
    #97 5 years ago
    Quoted from okayestpinballer:

    I'd be a grump too if I lived in a stinky one-horse town like Nekoosa.

    That's where my postal zip is fucktard!! We don't have a post office by the lakes here. You couldn't afford where i live.
    The sands golf course is in my backyard, look it up. https://sandvalley.com
    3,18 hole courses. Half a dozen lakes within minutes drive. Including the 2nd largest in the state.
    Maybe you could afford to come visit me here someday. Dickhole. Doubt they'd let you in. If they did you couldn't afford it.
    Location unknown? They don't list zip codes for under rocks or shit piles? That embarrassed?

    -5
    #99 5 years ago
    -13
    #100 5 years ago
    Quoted from Phat_Jay:

    I miss the ww2 generation. Those guys and gals were truly great.

    And racist, xenophobic , homophonic etc etc.

    There are 180 posts in this topic. You are on page 2 of 4.

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